


Fatigue

by goodfunforahermit



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, British Actor RPF, Sherlock (TV) RPF
Genre: Ben taking care of you, Cuddles, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Hospitals, Sick Character, Unconsciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 11:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9121108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodfunforahermit/pseuds/goodfunforahermit
Summary: After a long and stressful day the Reader comes home only to find herself being incredibly sick and overworked. Being the overprotective boyfriend he is Benedict works himself up over it after calling an ambulance."-I should have taken better care of you. You- you told me how overworked you were but I didn't think it would end up so badly. Guess that makes me the worst boyfriend ever, right?"Sweet and fluffy little oneshot.





	

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: For vomiting, hospitals and sickness.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

Benedict and you had been together for two years now, you had moved in after one. Life was brilliant with him, he seemed to know your every desire before you did, he was loving, protective and overall amazing. Not to mention the mind-blowing sex.   
You loved coming home after a stressful day at work because you knew that he'd be there to cheer you up and make you feel good again.   
Today had been especially dreadful. Not only had your boss decided to be in his worst mood since your hiring, you'd also felt like you were about to get the flu all day long. So when you finally left your workplace after working two hours overtime and entered the tube you felt so nauseous that you thought you were about to puke on the person sitting next to you. Luckily no such thing happened and you managed to get off the tube and walked the last ten minute to your house, the freh air feeling reviving on your skin. When you entered through the front door you called for Ben but he wasn't home yet. You know that he had a read-through for Sherlock today and probably wouldn't be home until nine o'clock but you didn't want him to see yo in your current condition - it probably wasn't tat bad anyway and you knew all too well how much he tended to worry when it came to you. So instead of laying down or getting rest you decided to prepare dinner. Needing an distraction from the headache, which seemed to be getting worse with every passing second, while the food was in the oven but also not wanting to lie down because you knew that it'd only get worse when you'd get up again you sat down in front of your laptop and opened the manuscript you'd been working on for the past few months. It wasn't even close to being finished but over the last days you've had some pretty great ideas and you were about to bring them to paper when a sharp pain hauled through your temples.  
"Fuck", you cursed and were about to get up when your knees suddenly felt like jelly and you fell right back down again. You started to cry, the only thing you were able to think about was Ben. God, you wanted him here right now so badly, you needed him. You lifted yourself up extra carefully, stripped out of your blazer and let it fall to the floor as you were moving towards the living room. No matter how hard you tried you couldn't bring your eyes to stay open and you drifted into unconsciousness.

When Ben came home three hours later he found you sprawled out on the wooden floor sweating and panting. He rushed to your side and touched your forehead.  
"Darling? Darling!"  
You were burning up.  
"God, no", he turned you on your back and your eyes flew open.  
"Ben?", you coughed, "what are you doing-", you tried to get up but as soon as your torso was in a vertical position you felt your stomach cramping in order to warn you of what followed. You barely managed to turn away from Ben before you threw up. You waved your hand at him in an pathetic effort to get him to look away because you didn't want him to see the embarrassing act in front of him but he didn't even think about it and rubbed your back in generous circles with one hand while grabbing your hair and holding it in a ponytail at the back of your head with the other.  
"Love, wha-", he didn't get any further because you started to mumble something along the lines of ' 'm fine', before you lost consciousness once again and fell directly backwards into his arms. 

If you'd been awake you would have been both, completely ashamed of the messy, sweating state you were in and in awe of Benedict as he grabbed his phone, trying to restrain himself from getting panicked and never even once letting go of you as he dialled 999. The ambulance arrived shortly after and he was allowed to hold your hand and sit beside you all the way to the hospital. The next thing he knew was how you were wheeled into the Emergency Room and a nurse told him that he wasn't allowed to enter. He sat down on one of the chairs in the Waiting Room, tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't even think about what would happen if he'd lose you. You were his everything, the perfect woman. He had so many plans for his future with you, so many places he wanted to take you, so many things he wanted to experience side by side with you. Was this his fault? Should he have been able to see the indications sooner? Maybe if he wouldn't haven been so occupied with 'Sherlock' for the past few days you wouldn't have to lay here in this bloody hospital and- the door to the Waiting Room swung open and in came a man in his mid-forties wearing a white coat.  
"Are you the Partner of Ms (Y/L/N)? Mr...?"  
"Cumberbatch! Yes! Yes I am. Is everything alright with her? How is (Y/N)?"  
"Hello, Mr Cumberbatch. I am Ms (Y/L/N)s doctor. Your girlfriend, wife?"  
"Girlfriend, yes."  
"She is fine. According to the circumstances. She is stable and sleeping now. We have to keep her for the next two or three days, depending on how well she is going to respond to the medication. She's infected with a very heavy form of the influenza, seemingly coupled with fatigue. Has she been working very hard recently?"  
"Um- yes. Yes. She told me that her work has been very stressful over the last few weeks. God, I should have gotten her to rest sooner..."  
"Mr Cumberbatch, none of this in your fault. You just have to make sure that she'll cut back on work in the upcoming weeks."  
"Yes, of course. I will! When", he gulped, "when can I see her?"  
"She has been given a very strong antibiotic and is asleep now, you can come to visit her tomorrow morning."  
Benedict nodded silently. 'If she even wants to see me, that is', he thought. He felt incredibly stupid for not noticing your illness sooner, for not realising how much pressure you'd stood under. He made his way back home with a pressuring feeling of guilt in his chest and fell into bed exhaustedly after cleaning up the living room and the kitchen from yur sickness and the overcooked food and setting his alarm to five o'clock in the morning.

When you woke up, the first sensation you felt was someone soothingly stroking your hand. After a few tries you managed to open your eyes and were immediately blinded by the bright light. You groaned weakly.  
"(Y/N)? Hey, Darling. How are you feeling?"  
"Ben?"  
"Yes. Yes, Darling, it's me. God, I was so worried about you."  
"Sorry", you croaked, "didn't mean to scare you."  
"No. Oh no, no, no. You didn't scare me- I mean, yes, yes you did- but you didn't do anything wrong, Love! It's my fault. I-", he sighed, sat down on the bed next to you and framed your face with his hands,"- I should have taken better care of you. You- you told me how overworked you were but I didn't think it would end up so badly. Guess that makes me the worst boyfriend ever, right?", he scoffed.  
"What?", you swallowed hard,"No! None of this is your fault, you saved me. You called the ambulace, Ben. You couldn't have seen it coming, not even I did. I love you, alright?"  
"I love you, too. You are my everything, (Y/N). But still, I shou-"  
"-You did everything perfectly, Ben. You are here for me now, that's all that matters."  
Silence spread over the room when you began to blush as yesterdays details began coming back to you.  
"I-umm...I'd kiss you but I'm afraid it won't be very...hygienic." Ben ler out a huff and started smiling.  
"I'd kiss you anyways, you know?"  
"I do. And...umm...I am also very sorry that you had to see me puke. Bet it wasn't very attractive, was it?"  
"I've seen worse", he kissed your temple.  
"You're just saying that for me to feel less ashamed", I mumbled embarrassedly.  
"I swear, Darling, the worst thing about it was the fear."  
"Good to know, that means I can puke around you more often in the future."  
"Weeeelll", he giggled.  
"You're a goofball, you know that?"  
"Yes of course, but I am your goofball", he smiled.

You had to stay in the hospital for three more days. Benedict would stay from the beginning until the very end of visitor hours. Even Wanda and Timothy as well as a few of your friends came to check up on you, which was very lovely. When you were finally allowed to go home you were greeted by a gigantic pile of blankets and pillows on the sofa. Your laptop laid next to a steaming mug of tea and a plate full of various fruits and chocolate-chip cookies on the coffee table.   
"Wow...Ben. That's really sweet of you."  
"Aaand", he helped you out of your coat, "I already called your boss and told him that you won't be coming for the next two weeks."  
"Really? And he just accepted that?"  
"Let's just say I had to use my powers of persuasion", Ben grinned.  
"Oh, do I want to know the details?", you mock-gasped.  
"I doubt that. In case the police shows up, he's not in the basement", he replied as seriously as possible.   
"Got it", you grinned,"if you don't make it in jail, do I get your BAFTA?"  
"What? No! Are you out of your mind, woman? I am taking that thing to the grave with me?" That had me giggling out loud and he dropped his acting, too.   
"Now, lie down and try to do as little as possible."  
"Will you lie down with me?", you asked while you crawled into the cocoon of bedding.  
"Of course, Love. Always." He buried himself next to you and draped one arm around your waist while placing your head on the other one.  
You fell asleep soon and only wake up a few hours later as Ben carried you in the upstairs bedroom.  
Before he noticed that you were awake you closed your eyes again, knowing that you were safe and sound as long as he was with you.   
The last thing you heard before you fell asleep again was him murmuring 'I love you, (Y/N)' while he pressed a soft kiss on your lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Thank you so much for reading!   
> I don't know if you could tell, but I am neither a nurse nor a doctor so I apologize for any mistakes with the illness. I actually don't know if the flu can get as bad as I described it here or if being overworked can add anything to it. I hope you liked it anyways. Kudos and comments are much apprechiated ♥


End file.
